Externally and intentionally initiated inhibitory processes, which are fundamental for human action control, can be unconsciously launched. However, the neural oscillatory mechanisms underlying unconscious priming of externally and intentionally generated inhibition remain unclear. This study aimed to explore this issue by extracting oscillatory power dynamics from electroencephalographic data with participants performing an unconscious version of the Go/No-Go/Choose task involving subliminally presented primes. The participants presented prolonged response times upon being instructed or intentionally deciding to commit a “Go” response following a No-Go prime compared with those following a Go prime. This indicates that unconscious inhibitory processes can be externally and intentionally initiated. Time-frequency analysis indicated increased theta band oscillatory power on the forced Go response following a No-Go prime compared with that following a Go prime. Contrastingly, there was pronounced alpha/low-beta band oscillatory power on the free-choice Go response following a No-Go prime compared with that following a Go prime. Moreover, there was a positive correlation of theta and alpha/low-beta band oscillations with human behavior performance related to the two distinct unconscious inhibitory processes. Our findings delineate dissociable neural oscillatory mechanisms underlying the unconscious priming of externally and intentionally initiated inhibition. Moreover, they might provide complementary neural oscillatory evidence supporting the discrepancy between instructed and voluntary human action control.

外部和有意启动的抑制过程是人类行为控制的基础，可以无意识地启动。然而，外部和有意产生的抑制的无意识启动背后的神经振荡机制仍不清楚。本研究旨在通过从脑电图数据中提取振荡功率动力学来探索这个问题，参与者执行涉及潜意识呈现素数的 Go/No-Go/Choose 任务的无意识版本。参与者在被指示或有意决定在 No-Go 素数之后做出“Go”响应时表现出更长的响应时间，与 Go 素数之后的响应时间相比。这表明无意识的抑制过程可以从外部有意地启动。时频分析表明，与 Go Prime 相比，No-Go Prime 后强制 Go 响应的 theta 波段振荡功率增加。相比之下，No-Go 素数后的自由选择 Go 响应与围棋素数后的响应具有明显的 alpha/低 β 波段振荡功率。此外，theta 和 alpha/low-beta 波段振荡与人类行为表现呈正相关，这两种不同的无意识抑制过程相关。我们的研究结果描绘了潜在的外部和有意启动的抑制的无意识启动的可分离神经振荡机制。此外，它们可能提供补充的神经振荡证据，支持指示性和自愿性人类行为控制之间的差异。